America's Premier Membership Association

For the Top 10 Needs Of Small Business Owners, today’s selected entry is from Becky Boyd, Vice President at MediaFirst in Atlanta Georgia.

The Top 10 Needs of Small Business Owners:

1.  Find A Mentor who compliments the characteristics you lack. For example, if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and can see the big picture, but lack the ability to follow through and provide details, find a detail oriented person to help you with tasks that you create as a result of your vision.

2.  Find A Person to bounce your ideas off of. Everyone needs a non-biased person that will give you feedback on your ideas.

3.  A Place To Work – Set up an office in your home away from all the noise where you can close your door and work. If your office is in the middle of the playroom, you will never get anything done.

4.  Financial Advisor – Use a qualified accountant and/or financial advisor who understands small businesses and can give you ideas on saving money and places to find money if you need it, such as the Small Business Association.

5.  Have A Web Presence – Every business needs a website because that is the best way for people to find you. Invest in a good website that tells visitors what you do and how to contact you. Also invest in good SEO practices, or learn them yourself so that when people Google for your business type, your business will appear near the top of the search engines.

6.  Customer Testimonials – It is best for a small business if you can get some of your customers or business partners to say good things about you. Use these testimonials on your website. Have your LinkedIn contacts write a referral for you on LinkedIn. Remember, in order to get good testimonials you have to do an exceptional job!

7.  Network, Network, Network – In order to grow your business, you need new customers. One way to accomplish this is to network at local business associations, community meet-ups, etc. Sign up to receive a list of daily community meet-ups and attend the ones that your target customers will attend. When you get there, don’t be shy. Pass out business cards and introduce yourself. You can pretty much network anywhere – at church, the grocery store, the gym, basically anywhere that you go.

8.  Establish Communications - With The Local Media and media that cover your industry. Having a 3rd party endorsement of your company and solutions is a great way for people to learn about your offerings and begin to trust what you offer. You can accomplish these media relations by yourself, but to save time and focus on your core business, you should hire a PR firm.

9.  Marketing, Marketing, Marketing – Along with promoting yourself to the media, you need to market your business. One of the easiest ways to do this is through email marketing. Use a simple-to-use, yet powerful email solution like MailChimp (www.mailchimp.com). Using MailChimp, you can create an email newsletter, then regularly send it to your database of contacts that you’ve met at networking events and other places. You want to keep your name out there so that people will remember you the next time they need whatever you offer.

10.  Equipment Needs – Every small business needs a telephone and computer. Make sure you get the fastest computer you can afford to make working easier. As for a phone, make sure you always answer your calls and if someone calls and leaves a message, call them back within 24 hours. That is just common courtesy.

We especially thank Becky Boyd, V.P. of MediaFirst for your thoughts on this project that you have shared with us!
For follow up comments and information, please contact Becky Boyd at MediaFirst : website www.mediafirst.net   emial becky@mediafirst.net.

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